What are your new year's resolutions regarding cooking in the upcoming year???? What new things do u want to try, new techniques, new foods, etc?? Aside from the usual of wanting to eat healthier, that is.

Mine is to gain some weight. This may seem like an easy task, but for some strange reason, my personality thinks I should be thinner than my body requires. I weigh 15 pounds less then when I graduated from college, and that was 22 years ago._________________' She says, 'I am the glamorous type.' I said, 'So what?'

Joined: 18 Oct 2004Posts: 1654Location: Within view of Elliot Bay, The Olympics and every ship in the Sound

Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 5:31 am Post subject:

Sarape, May I recommend a steady diet of yummy cheese! I know that is what keeps the inch on me.
Delsbread, That is a good one. I know I tend to get so involved with intricasies that I let everyone else do the savoring for me.
As for myself I am going to excersise more so I an eat guilt free!_________________"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

Sarape, May I recommend a steady diet of yummy cheese! I know that is what keeps the inch on me.

As for myself I am going to excersise more so I an eat guilt free!

I do especially enjoy a nice, fluffy, white, goat cheese from France. The quilt part you mention is the antithesis of my problem (Hmm, maybe it is the thesis, anyway...). My problem is that I too often treat eating as the reward for the day -- which includes excersise like walking at lunch and spending time on the orbital machine at the YMCA.

So, somehow I've got to figure out how to enjoy the food without the need to treat it as a reward. Seems simple enough, but strange how the mind works._________________' She says, 'I am the glamorous type.' I said, 'So what?'

Yes Monkey, I should lay off the orbital and lay on the weight machines.

Interesting point that cooking and food and, I assume, the eating of that food can be a reward in itself. I'll have to try that point of view. Right now, I'm using my "comfort" food to placate my food/exercise guilt.

Goat cheese -- here in the wilds of Alabama, there are no specialty food stores. I get my goat cheese from a farmer's market in Atlanta.

Here's my comfort-food recipe -- it sounds strange, but it is very good.

In a large aluminum or steel pot, mash up everything and add plenty of water -- should be the consistency of pancake batter. This is basically a ot cereal, but I cook it with a twist -- no stirring. Leave on burner at low flame or simmer for a couple hours. The corn-meal-oats-rice mixture absorbs the water and congeals and hardens. The mixture at the bottom of the pan turns brown and it cooks like a cheese cake in the oven. But, this is cooked entirely on top of the stove -- again no stirring. After a couple hours on the lowest burner setting, remove and let cool a bit. It should be thick, and about like a cheese cake. Even a little burnt on the bottom is good. I'm sure I'm not the only one who likes the taste of browned or slightly burnt food._________________' She says, 'I am the glamorous type.' I said, 'So what?'

my resolution i think will be to try and lay off non-seasonal produce, and buy at least 75% of my groceries from local farmers and manufactures, or at least small-business manufacturers. like twin oaks tofu! sooooo good!

Joined: 18 Oct 2004Posts: 1654Location: Within view of Elliot Bay, The Olympics and every ship in the Sound

Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 10:06 pm Post subject:

David,
I have to find it, but I have a very simple recipe for a chocolate cake that helped me. I was a terrible baker and this helped me get comfortable. Also it is only a single layer so you aren't stuck with a whole cake if it is just you and Dick._________________"It's watery....and yet there's a smack of ham."

Re-learn or discover a way to cook meals from scratch, or mostly so, that is manageable with my fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue. I want to enjoy cooking again, without being too exhausted to eat the food I've cooked, or do anything else that day. I have eaten so much over-salted rotisserie chicken from the deli section of the supermarket that I can hardly bear to look at the stuff!

And I promise to quit doinig "science experiments" in the refrigerator.